


A Catfishes Tale

by IceboundEmu



Category: LoveLink (Video Game)
Genre: A lot of people have to hear some very bad news, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Jonathan is just Amazing, M/M, MC is a Catfish!, Multiverse does not exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 19:41:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceboundEmu/pseuds/IceboundEmu
Summary: There are two approaches to the world of Lovelink, either the MC exists in a multiverse where they can flirt with matches individually, or you're lying through your teeth and stringing 30+ people along.This fic takes place in the latter, and deals with the matches realising that they've been played.  MC is not a nice person in this.
Relationships: Mc/everyone
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	A Catfishes Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for most of the plotlines if you haven't played them, and a warning for abuse mentioned in Sam's portion of the story.
> 
> I took advantage of an intermittent bug in the app itself where users have reported being able to match with a character and their alternative version (Counterpart) so if you wonder how MC got the first two characters mentioned by name that's my reasoning for it.
> 
> This is what I write when I want to deal with my feelings towards MC and the character we're forced to play and a way for me to work through my dislike of him/her/them.
> 
> The MC in this is female. I can amend this once finished for a Male MC if that's something you'd like to see.

“Do you think that she actually understands these are human lives she’s playing with?”

The question from the tattooed blonde standing in front of him came from nowhere, and Jonathan frowned at the twist of misery in the words uttered, wondering what words he could offer to possibly salve the injury he’d just inflicted on the other man. It wasn’t that Jonathan ever particularly enjoyed this part of any of the conversations he’d now had with numerous people up and down the country, but he usually consoled himself with the belief that any injury he inflicted now was better than the agony he’d had to endure himself at the realisation the woman he’d thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with was nothing more than a serial dater who was stringing him along, keeping multiple matches on the line whilst simultaneously claiming to be looking for an exclusive relationship. 

Albert placing his phone in front of him to prove they’d been having almost identical conversations at the same time had been like taking a knife to the heart, the only reason that this woman hadn’t picked up that she was talking to two soldiers in the same unit was the fact the Albert had omitted to send a photo with their mutual friend Ryan in, so she hadn’t realised her error. The older man had been the first to twig something was amiss when his stories of his dream woman had sounded eerily similar to the ones Jonathan was giving, she’d even used the same profile picture with them both, which had left Jonathan feeling sick to his stomach, since he’d literally just come off a call to his mother where he’d been expressing his excitement at her finally getting to meet his perfect match.

He’d spent the first few hours after the realisation dawned numb with shock, before the ice that seemed to have gathered in his veins thawed, to be replaced with burning fury that someone had been so careless with his feelings. His first reaction, to call her out on the con she’d pulled had been impeded by the fact the Albert had taken one look at his initial response and walked off with his phone. When he returned, a few hours later to return it he’d brought with him a list from the internal communications team, which only gave Jonathan a deeper insight into the depth of the con he’d been drawn into. The list in front of him easily stretched in excess of thirty names, male and female included, and whoever had prepared it had even drawn their photos from their Lovelink profiles, so he could put a face to each of the victims.

That wasn’t the only thing Albert had been arranging, since that evening Jonathan found himself on a plane being sent back stateside, his role was considered too important for him to have suffered any distraction that might cause his attention to detail to waver, if he messed up then people died, simple as. Albert had also been removed from active duty, though didn’t seem inclined to talk about it, most of the trip back passed in silence as Jonathan took the time to grieve for the lie, he’d brought and the death of a life he’d never have realistically had the chance to live. It was only when his composure crumpled and the tears started that Albert took notice, though he seemed far more stoic in light of the situation.

From the airport he’d been notified he’d been granted emergency leave, that his parents had been contacted and had already reached the airport to take him back home. If the officer who’d been delivering the news noticed how broken Jonathan looked, they didn’t comment, though he was left with the sensation that everyone had been advised to handle him with care, whatever face he was putting on. Any resolution he’d made to be strong crumbled in the face of the distress in his parent’s expression when they laid eyes on him, he still remembered sobbing uncontrollably into his mother’s shoulder in the airport lounge whilst she stroked his hair and murmured soft words of comfort, embracing him firmly even as he broke apart in front of them.

He didn’t remember much about the car journey back to the family home, he had an idea he might have fallen asleep at some point, though the sleep was thankfully dreamless, then next clear memory he had was of his eldest brother, Alexander, shaking his shoulder whilst repeating his name, how many times he’d uttered it before Jonathan had responded was anyone’s best guess. He’d felt incapable of movement, which in hindsight he realised was probably shock catching up, so Alex had carried him to his room, helped him undress and then tucked him in sheets that gave off their own comforting odour and helped to lull him back into a doze that allowed for the onset of sleep once more and the oblivion it brought.

It had taken a week before he’d felt the impulse to get out of bed for any longer period that an occasional bathroom break, though none of the family had tried to force the issue, Michael and Alexander had alternated keeping him company and filling his time with idle gossip from the town and their antics whilst he had been away, his mother treated it as though it was a period of childhood illness, ensuring he was clean, comfortable and well fed. The subject of what had happened was carefully avoided, so Jonathan was left to work though his own thoughts at his own pace, though his Father had confiscated his own mobile and provided him with a new one, which Jonathan had decided not to download Lovelink onto, to avoid the temptation of logging in and giving his faithless match a piece of his mind.

When the grief of the bereavement drained away Jonathan spent his time dwelling on the list of names that Albert had been holding, wondering how many of them still lived their lives in blissful oblivion and dreamed their own fantasies of a happily ever after. In hindsight, replaying their conversations in his mind he became obsessed with the idea that he should have been able to see the warning signs, though voicing those thoughts aloud to his mother had resulted in a scolding from her that he wouldn’t soon forget. Her words had the desired effect though, as soon as he could divorce himself from those thoughts, he found himself much more inclined to help other people avoid the pitfalls he had fallen into. So, he’d called Albert to check in and to see if he still had the list, which had resulted in him offering an impromptu invitation to his fellow officer to come up and stay with them, because it didn’t sound from the terse conversation, he had with Albert that he’d had quite such the support network to help him recover.

Initially Albert had left him alone to study the list, though the state of the paper and the various stains that covered it indicated that Albert had himself opened the list repeatedly, at one point he’d torn it in half, then, perhaps when sobered, had carefully taped it back together, though the damage was obvious. He must have, in the better periods, started looking into who these people were and where they were located, some had handwritten notes scribbled next to them that gave locations.

Jonathan had carefully copied the list, taken a photo of the pictures for reference, then stored it all in his new phone whilst he went to work tracking these people down, without giving into the temptation to load up Lovelink and send them the equivalent of a text to deliver his bombshell news that they were being played, as far as he was concerned no one deserved such a cruel delivery. Nor could he sit by and know there were still people out there suffering such treatment and hope that they one day realised they were being played.

The first he’d found, and easiest to try, was the closest, a few hours’ drive down the coast from his parent’s house, he’d borrowed their car to make the trip, rehearsing what he would say in his mind on the way down. He’d convinced Albert to accompany him, promising he wouldn’t ask him to leave the car to accompany him, but pointing out he might need someone to drive them back if it all went to hell in a handbasket.

It was, to put it mildly, one of the worst experiences of his life having to walk up to a stranger’s door and knock, knowing he was about to blow apart their happiness and having no idea how they’d respond to the intrusion. He took several deep breaths before raising his hand to knock on the door, jumping when it was opened almost immediately by a man whose brow furrowed in confusion at the sight of him standing there. Obviously, he’d been expecting someone else, and went to shut the door in Jonathan’s face.

“Wait! Are you Marco? Marco Bottazzi?”

The confusion drained away to be replaced with suspicion, though thankfully he made no effort to close the door further, which would have resulted in him slamming the door on the foot Jonathan had placed in the door jamb.

“How do you know my name?”

Jonathan swallowed, aware his instincts were screaming at him to turn tail and run and abandon the whole crazy idea, though Marco looked the type to give chase if he attempted such a course of action. Aware the silence may have dragged on longer than necessary Jonathan forced himself to speak the next words he dreaded uttering, priding himself that his voice didn’t shake when delivering it.

“I think you’re talking to a woman on Lovelink that was talking to me and my friend at the same time and claiming to be interested in an exclusive relationship with all of us. This is her.”

He saw the recognition on Marco’s face as he held up the photo, which he didn’t know whether to feel relived or upset about. Though she’d used the same name when talking to Albert as she had with Jonathan, they had found she operated under several aliases, so they’d instead chosen to use her profile picture as a means of identification, which Albert had assured him remained the same across the profiles being used. It still hurt too much for Jonathan to utter her name, in the few conversations he’d had with Albert they’d just referred to her by her initials, MC, which Albert said suited the fact she was the main character in the dramas she liked to play.

He knew the first words out of Marco’s mouth would be some sort of denial.

“I’m sorry, but I think you’re confused. Magnolia wouldn’t…”

Jonathan had to bite back a snort of laughter at the name she’d chosen to use and how incongruous it was. He’d known her as Melanie, who’d grown up on an Army base as an only child, had seemed to understand his circumstances perfectly…he wondered what line she’d fed the man in front of him.

Then without a further word, Marco walked off, leaving the front door open. At a loss of what to do Jonathan followed him.

“Marco? Who was at the door? Who are you?”

The final question came as Jonathan stepped into a beautifully decorated living room and found that Marco hadn’t been alone in the house. Another man studied him carefully, his body language making it clear that he was assessing whether Jonathan posed a threat, seeing as Marco had gone white with shock and collapsed on the sofa, where he’d buried his head in his hands. They’d obviously been having coffee when his knock on the door had interrupted them, though both mugs appeared to have been untouched, and they looked to have gone cold.

“Apparently I’m not the only one Magnolia was interested in seeing Taylor. He’s her boyfriend?”

The inflection at the end of the sentence turned it into a question, and Jonathan realised with horror he’d neglected to introduce himself before he’d blown this man’s world apart.

“I’m sorry, my name is Jonathan, Jonathan Hayes…I knew Magnolia as Melanie…and it wasn’t just me she was dating under that name. She also targeted one of my colleagues too.”

Taylor’s expression went from cautious to grim, travelling through a range of emotions during the transition as the meaning behind the words appeared to sink in.

“Well, shit. So, the woman I dumped my finance for isn’t a woman who actually has any interest in a long-term relationship with me then?”

Marco spoke without moving his hands and Jonathan took a second to process what he was saying before the horror of the words struck him and he felt his stomach churn with bile. He couldn’t answer Marco’s question about what interest MC had in him beyond someone’s life to play with, but the actions this man had taken for an illusion of a woman far eclipsed his own. Any apology he could offer though would do little to soothe the pain the man must have felt, still, what would matter was that he tried.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this.”

Marco’s head snapped up at his response, Taylor looked like he was considering a response before he sighed and shook his head. Without prompting Taylor took the two abandoned coffees and headed in the direction of an open plan kitchen that merged with the living room, emptying the unconsumed contents down the sink.

“Would you like a drink?”

Jonathan had to fight not to gawp at the question. However, he’d envisaged this going it hadn’t been with the offer of refreshments thrown in.

“Could I trouble you for a glass of water please?”

His mouth was currently as dry as the Sahara, but he didn’t think he’d be able to keep coffee down. Marco gave a humourless chuckle at his response, before rising from his seat and heading to a liquor cabinet, where he poured himself something that could have been whiskey or brandy, before downing the glass in one and hurling the empty vessel at the wall, where it shattered. Jonathan jumped at the violence of the action, then as quickly as the fury came it seemed to drain away, and Marco just looked haggard. Jonathan wondered whether he’d looked similar to a casual observer in those first agonising days after realisation hit. Taylor just eyed his friend sympathetically, before bring Jonathan the water he’d requested, then locating a dustpan and brush to clean up the mess.

“Sorry about that, just had an overwhelming urge to break something.”

Jonathan resisted the impulse to quip that it was better a glass that got broken rather than his face, figuring any attempt at levity would just fall flat. From personal experience he knew it would be a long time, if ever, when he could look back on this and laugh, he’d probably still be hard pressed not to floor anyone who tried it with him. He wasn’t sure how to respond and took a large mouthful of the water to cover his discomfort.

“I should probably go and let this sink in.”

Protracting this further wouldn’t do anything to help and Jonathan was anxious to get back on the road and back to the safety of home, where he could allow himself to process the outcome of today.

“Wait, before you go can you tell me something? How many others are there?”

Jonathan thought of the list currently burning a hole in his pocket and wondered whether it would be kinder to lie and let Marco retain some shred of the decent person he’d assumed his love interest was. But as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, he knew without doubt that it didn’t offer Marco any comfort, worse he could actually offer this woman another chance to toy with his emotions and tip MC off that someone was onto her game.

“There’s at least thirty people on the list I need to speak to. You were the first.”

Any hope that had remained in Marco’s eyes flickered and died at Jonathan’s words and Jonathan felt his heart sink to his shoes at the desolation left behind.

“Can you leave your number please? We need some time to process this, then we’ll be in touch.”

Jonathan jumped as Taylor had managed to blindside him, almost spilling his water in the process, which Taylor stepped in to steady and take from him so he could make good his escape. He escorted Jonathan to the door, making sure to close it firmly behind him. Jonathan jogged down the drive towards the pavement where he’d left the car and Albert, to find that his colleague had climbed out at some point and was leaning against the driver’s side door, watching his progress down the driveway.

“That was hell.”

The expression on Albert’s face offered the unspoken question on what Jonathan had been expecting to encounter, though he was intelligent enough not to vocalise it. Fumbling with the passenger door Jonathan collapsed into the seat, resting his head against the headrest and closing his eyes.

That had been the first, and Jonathan would have liked to claim it improved with each time he had to carry out the task, but somehow, he could never divorce himself from the horror of the pain he was inflicting on people and the reaction it evoked.

The worst by far had been the college students they’d found snared in the web. Not in the least because they all happened to be located on the same campus, but their reactions were so different. One Skylar Quinn had seemed to take the news in his stride, before darkly declaring ‘he’d deal with it his way’ and vanishing off, leaving Jonathan to wonder what he’d meant. Informing Charlie Nyygard was the closest that Jonathan had come to being beaten up, not from Charlie, but from the two older students who’d seen Charlie burst into tears and assumed (somewhat correctly) that Jonathan had been the direct cause of his distress. Once tempers had cooled and he’d been able to explain the situation he’d seen Zayn Kassab’s expression solidify into icy fury, whereas Jake Gonzales clucked over the still distressed Charlie. They’d been interested to know that Skylar had also been caught in the same trap, Zayn had wandered off to call him, obviously to compare revenge plans, or perhaps to help stage manage it.

Sam Knight would probably be his worst experience to date. The teen had completely gone to pieces on Jonathan, unable to explain the reason for his distress verbally he’d instead offered Jonathan his phone and Lovelink profile and scrolling through the conversation chilled Jonathan to the bone at just how callous MC had been.

What had started as a seemingly normal conversation between two potential matches had quickly turned into what could only be described as a disturbing stream of low-level negativity directed towards Sam, it seemed the harder Sam tried to impress his match the more she pushed back, till Jonathan wasn’t sure why Sam actually continued to try with her. Then without warning the tone switched and Jonathan realised with sickening certainty it had been this that had firmly hooked Sam. Worse was that she hadn’t even bothered to continue with the kindness, later conversations fell back into the same pattern of negative ‘compliments’ till the poor boy must have wondered what he could do to make his ‘girlfriend’ happy with him.

Reaching the point where Sam revealed his father’s treatment of him growing up had just increased Jonathan’s belief that he couldn’t just walk out and trust Sam to deal with the fallout rationally. Or trust his father to do anything but use this as a reason to solidify his grasp on what remained of Sam’s life and use this as a stick to beat Sam with mentally if he showed even the slightest hint of stepping out of line. Given that Sam had destroyed his chances of a scholarship it would mean his father would end up footing his college bill, yet more ammunition to ensure that Sam paid for this for the rest of his life, however long he could stand the mental strain such a situation would put him under.

At some point whilst he’d been scrolling through the extensive conversation Sam had sought comfort by drawing closer to him. Jonathan noticed movement from the corner of his eye and realised the teary teen was in desperate need of some physical reassurance, Sam gratefully snuggled into his side and accepted Jonathan wrapping his arm round him and sat in silence as Jonathan finished reading the exchange before accepting it back and closing the app again. Jonathan supposed he was lucky that MC hadn’t been online to notice Sam was active and tried messaging, from what he’d just read he wouldn’t have trusted his what his response would have been.

“What do I do?”

That was the million-dollar question Jonathan thought. He was at a loss of what to suggest, it was clear Sam needed to think over how he wanted to proceed, but leaving him here wouldn’t be beneficial for him, it would just leave him victim to his father again. Jonathan was hit by a brief longing that his mother could have come, before the solution hit him that if his mother weren’t able to come to Sam, he could at least take Sam to her. His mother wouldn’t turn away someone in need, if nothing else Sam would have somewhere to stay and food to eat whilst he came to his own decisions.

“Come with me, my mom will know what to suggest.”

There was the difference, his mother would suggest to Sam what he could do and leave it to Sam to decide, whereas MC and Sam’s father seemed to have both taken the path of telling Sam what he wanted to do.

“Can I?”

Jonathan realised that Sam was looking to him to make the choice for him. He sighed, he couldn’t be the one to make the decision, Sam had to learn to rationalise things for himself. It didn’t mean that he couldn’t make it a little easier for him this time though.

“How about you wait in the car for me whilst I talk to a couple more people and think it over? Then if you decide it’s not a good idea you can let me know? But pack a bag just in case, it’s kind of cold and wet in Maine at the moment, so you might want to take that into account.”

Sam visibly brightened at the words, wriggling free from the hug and heading off to pack, leaving Jonathan to stare at the ceiling, before he remembered to text his mother and run past her what he’d suggested to Sam, promising a full explanation of his reasons for doing so when he got back. The answering response, that she’d prepare the guest bedroom, gave him the green light and the reassurance he wouldn’t be expected to share a room.

Sam took care to lock the room of the dorm as they left, and seemed quite happy, humming softly to himself as they wandered down the corridor towards the car park.

That had been over a week ago, and Jonathan had returned to the car after talking to Grace Kim, who he’d left sobbing into her friend Clementine’s arms, to find Sam was chattering away to Albert, who was still playing driver whilst he too decided what direction he wanted to go in. The distance from active service, and the news that he would have to undergo a full psychiatric evaluation had considered Jonathan to consider his position as well and whether he wanted to return to active service. So far, his superiors had been understanding that he couldn’t settle whilst there were still names on the list, he held who didn’t know they were being played. 

Albert had already talked to them about resigning his commission and trying something new, Jonathan’s father had been interested in taking on extra hands because his business was going through something of a boom, and he’d been considering getting another boat. Jonathan had remembered discussions he’d had with Melanie about his dreams of considering a career in architecture, those dreams seemed tarnished now thanks to her actions and he wondered whether once this was done, he’d want to revisit them.

Marco had finally contacted him, or rather Taylor had, to report that Marco was recovering from the news he’d been given and was returning to his old self, though he didn’t mention what had happened to his former fiancée and Jonathan hadn’t thought it polite to ask. Taylor had expressed an interest in knowing whether there was any assistance they could offer. He added that as far as MC was aware Marco was still away “discussing” the situation with his fiancée, Marco couldn’t bring himself to open the app again with his newfound knowledge. That was a feeling Jonathan could empathise with.

Jonathan had respectfully declined and had wished them well, not wishing to inflict a burden he thought was his to bear on someone else. Taylor surprisingly had pushed back pointing out that it shouldn’t be something for him to complete on his own, that many hands made light work and they could at least double the number of people they could reach with two teams. Jonathan had managed to end the call without agreeing to anything concrete but had promised to think it over and call back.

Zayn had also been in contact, explaining that he was helping Skylar stage manage his own disappearance, they were actually arranging an entire “conspiracy” to explain his sudden need to depart and maintain a radio silence to divert MC away from the realisation that her pool of victims was currently drying up at a rate of knots. Charlie had simply cut Lovelink from his life and Jake had taken control of the profile and was weaving a tale of a job offer in LA to explain Charlie terminating contact, they had a photo they were using from a former visit to “prove” his presence in Hollywood. So far, the ruse seemed to be working. Grace had cut herself off from her toxic family and moved in with Clementine, she’d stopped her use of Lovelink, unwilling to risk the same thing happening again, she’d look for love in more traditional places.

Jonathan had busied himself tracking down the next person on his list, one Blake Bailey, and almost ran straight into Melanie. He’d visited the tattoo parlour they’d found Blake worked at and been directed to a bar Blake was currently at, by his friend Keanu, who’d neglected to mention he happened to be on a date there. Jonathan had frozen on entering the building as he recognised the silhouette sitting next to the blonde man, thankfully they both appeared to have their back to him and were engaged in other activities, still he ducked back outside before he was noticed, staggering back to the car whilst simultaneously trying to resist the urge to throw up. He dropped into the passenger seat next to Albert, who glanced at him in surprise at his rapid return.

“She’s in there with him.”

Albert’s expression dropped into a grimace as he eyed Jonathan’s distress, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he spoke.

“What now? Oh hell, wait, looks like you got out just in time, they’re coming out.”

Jonathan bit back the urge to scream, praying fervently that they wouldn’t come this way, because finding them both in a car together might give the game away. Luckily for him, though Blake started in their direction it appeared that an overnight stay wasn’t on Melanie’s cards, she set off in the opposite direction without a glance over her shoulder at her departing date.

“I’m going to follow him; I’ll text you when I know where he’s going.”

Without waiting for Albert’s response Jonathan waited for Blake to pass the car before he slid out again and followed the oblivious blonde down the street.

Which had led to this uncomfortable meeting at what he could only assume was Blake’s front door. He’d never twigged that he’d been followed, Jonathan had lurked outside the block of flats whilst he sent Albert the address to drive to, then ducked in as a young couple had come out, acting the part of a tenant who’d lost their keys, or if challenged by anyone, a visitor for Flat 8, which had Blake Bailey’s name against it.

He’d had to knock a few times before Blake had actually answered the door, the blonde had eyed him with outright hostility initially, which as he explained the reason for the visit had quickly crumpled into grief. Blake had been clutching his phone when he answered the door, as Jonathan watched he typed something into it though the veil of tears he made no effort to wipe away.

“I was talking to her, I told her it was my ex at the door, gave me an excuse to end the conversation. Shit, sorry, could you excuse me? I need a minute, you better come in.”

“Is there someone I can call?”

Blake didn’t look to be in a fit state to be left alone. Jonathan hoped he answered in the affirmative, he wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving him otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued.
> 
> Please turn over.


End file.
